Crowds descending upon London during the Olympic Games this summer could be three times larger than those seen on New Year’s Eve.

Peter Hendy, the commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), warned Telegraph.co.uk that many of London’s event spaces may fill up quickly because of the number of free activities on offer.

Open areas that are destined to show big games on big screens could face the worst of the overcrowding. The opening few days and the two weekends following are already being tipped to be the busiest of the year.

Contingency plans are being drawn up in the event of overcrowding, with ideas floating around including directing people south of the river to Clapham Common if things get out of hand.

With the potential for such disturbances, it’s possible that some might consider that the Games are best watched from the comfort and safety of pre-booked function venues or at home.

“Our approach is to be ready for more people to turn up than you can ever imagine simply because it is a great place to be. We do not want to discourage people, but we will inform people if they can’t get into central London,” said commissioner Hendy of the matter, cited by LondonTheNews.com.